Lowell Kruse said in March, after his reappointment to the state’s coordinating board for higher education, that he felt a greater sense of urgency to promote education.

His tune hasn’t changed as he assumes the role of chairman (again) of the nine-member board.

Mr. Kruse, who will retire as president and CEO of Heartland Health this summer, said his highest level of concern as a board member has to do with the general population’s attitude toward education, and not just college education.

“This has to become a national obsession,” Mr. Kruse said of people’s interest in education from preschool through graduate school. “In Missouri, it has to become a state obsession to create a highly performing work force.”

By statute, the coordinating board is to provide a coordinated education plan, evaluate operating and capital costs, and report their data to the governor and legislature. But what is needed, Mr. Kruse said, is a plan for higher education that looks at the needs of Missouri and creates educational programs at the various colleges and universities across the state that will produce a competitive work force.

“What we know is we’re falling far short,” he said.

Mr. Kruse points to statistics to back up his claim. Around 15 percent of high school students in Missouri won’t graduate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only a quarter of the population completes a bachelor’s degree.

The dilemma, he said, is that one can’t look at higher education without also looking at K-12, etc. Children are born into poverty (more than half of the students in the St. Joseph School District qualify for free or reduced lunches), which complicates education and results in remediation in those who attempt college. There needs to be a seamless line of communication from K-12 up through to the business community, Mr. Kruse said.

The creation of the P-20 Council addresses some of his concerns. The council is made up of the commissioners of education and higher education, chairs of the State Board of Education and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, the director of Economic Development and seven civic members.

The P-20 Council achieved 501(c)3 not-for-profit status recently, and growth in the number of members through the omnibus education bill passed by the Missouri Legislature. Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, introduced the bill, which outlined improvements.

“What amazed me in our education system was that there was no continuum,” Mr. Lager said of when he began his career in Jefferson City politics. The lack of communication from early childhood up to economic development left gaps in developing a proper plan, he said.

“Economic developers tell us we need to have a better-educated workforce,” Mr. Lager said, adding that the P-20 Council addresses these issues.

“It’s about creating a continuum and having candid dialogue,” he said.

But in the short term, Mr. Kruse is aware that there are funding issues, which are likely to persist. Missouri ranks near the bottom in per-capita spending for higher education. Legislators support and fund the things that are important to the people who elected them, Mr. Kruse said, adding that he doesn’t think the Legislature is going to provide money to higher education just because the coordinating board is asking for it.

“Our job is to help create that message, a compelling argument or vision to the future as to why it should be a high priority,” he said. “Within the next couple of years we have to figure out how to become more efficient. We’ve got some tough times ahead of us so it’s going to take some smart people.”

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.